We want to let everyone know that a new game will be appearing alongside your favorite Blizzard games—one that’s a little different from what you might normally expect. Bungie’s upcoming first-person action game Destiny 2 will be joining the party! We’re excited to announce that we're partnering with Bungie and Activision to support the PC version of Destiny 2 exclusively via Battle.net.

We’re big fans of Destiny here at Blizzard, and we’re honored to be able to help the talented folks at Bungie and Activision bring their much-anticipated sequel to a new platform. Being on Battle.net will allow Destiny 2 to plug in to our existing global network, freeing up the developers at Bungie to focus their energy and resources on making the best and most fun game they possibly can. This also means Destiny 2 players will have access to our online social functionality, including chat with friends, the ability to see which of their friends are online in Destiny 2 or in Blizzard games, and the ability to stream gameplay directly to Facebook.

See the FAQ below for further platform details, and stay tuned for updates as we get closer to welcoming Destiny 2 and its players to Battle.net. To learn more about Destiny 2, head over to www.destinythegame.com.

Why are you adding a non-Blizzard game to Blizzard's platform?
We loved Destiny and think Destiny 2 is going to be a great game. Blizzard has an established and successful global internet infrastructure we’ve used for years to support our own games. Creating a new network client for Destiny 2, which is bringing the franchise to PC for the first time, would needlessly extend the development period for the game. We want to get our hands on Destiny 2 as soon as possible like everybody else, so we offered to share our PC platform with our sister companies for this release.

Does this mean other games are going to come to the Blizzard platform too?
Our focus in terms of supporting non-Blizzard games is solely around Destiny 2. Aside from potentially evaluating needs or opportunities for future Activision games, we don’t have any short- or long-term plans to support third-party games with Battle.net. It’s important to us to maintain our quality standards for any experience or service we’re putting in front of our players, which represents a big investment of time and effort on our part, so this is not something we’re jumping into lightly.

Does this mean I'll be able to use my Blizzard Balance to purchase Destiny 2?
Yes!

Will Destiny 2 offer the same cross-game social features that Blizzard titles currently have?
Destiny 2 will be integrated into many of Blizzard’s existing social features—you’ll be able to chat with friends playing Destiny 2 the same way you already can for Blizzard games. Players will also be able to add friends and form parties the same way Blizzard gamers can. And, you’ll see a Destiny 2 status icon by your friends who are playing Destiny 2 the same way you do for friends playing StarCraft II, Diablo III, WoW, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, and Overwatch.

Where and when will Destiny 2 on PC be available?
We’re excited to work with Bungie to bring the PC version of Destiny 2 to every region Blizzard currently operates in. Bungie is actively working through the global details. We look forward to sharing additional information later this year.

Who will be operating Destiny 2’s servers?
Bungie will maintain Destiny 2’s servers; Blizzard’s servers will be used for features related to the Blizzard platform, such as login and social functionality.

And what about customer service?
Destiny 2’s gameplay customer service will be handled by Bungie; Blizzard will handle customer service for platform and shop issues specific to our service.

It's good to see the mask finally come off. People have been speculating that Activision had a massive negative influence on new Blizzard games for many years and I'm honestly surprised it took them this long to shove their foot in the door and shoehorn their way into Blizzard's products. Don't be surprised if you see Activision/Blizzard simply change their overall name to Blizzard in the coming years. Are you ready for a world in which Blizzard publishes quality games like Call of Duty? It's going to happen.

I see it as a good thing. Blizzard right now says this is just for Destiny 2, but who knows. Perhaps they will expand Battle.net into a platform that can deliver games similar to Steam, Uplay, Origin, etc. I read recently about people saying Steam is too close to being a monopoly on online game delivery so Blizzard could become a competitor. I would trust Blizzard to make B.net into be a better alternative than some of the other choices I listed, and right now the Microsoft Store does not really seem to cater to gaming.

Originally Posted by Isiolia

Since it's on Battle.net I suppose we'll be able to buy it thank to WoW Token ? Might be a good commercial opportunity for Activision Blizzard, since people might want to spend their gold to test this new game they could not afford with $$$.

I suspect the answer would be no. It would be very awkward if you could farm one game's currency to buy real money tokens that can trade in for other games. This is not possible even between Blizzard's own games (can't trade Diablo gold for WoW game time, for example). However, B.net does have the infrastructure for in-game purchases so it's very likely Destiny 2 might have DLC that can be bought through B.net.

Oh boy, I can bet that new Call of Duty will end up on Battle.net as well. I get their decision tho, by using Battle.net Activision doesn't have to pay a single cent to third party companies like it would be with Steam.

I expect every new Acti game to end up on Battle.net one way or the other.